Providence, former mayor might end up in court over value of downtown high-rise

Patrick Anderson Journal Staff Writer patrickanderso_

Friday

Sep 8, 2017 at 8:07 PMSep 8, 2017 at 8:07 PM

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Former mayor Joseph Paolino Jr. is ready to take the city to court again in a tax dispute over one of Providence's most prominent downtown office buildings, the value of which he argues has been hurt by vagrancy in Kennedy Plaza.

The Providence Tax Assessment Board of Review Friday denied Paolino's request to reduce the $59.6-million assessed value of 100 Westminster St., a 350,000-square-foot office tower with a red facade, to around $53 million.

The lower assessment would cut the $2,187,088-per-year tax bill for 100 Westminster, which abuts the more iconic "Superman building," by about $230,000.

The disagreement over the building's tax bill emerged not long after Paolino Properties, a real-estate business that woes about 20 buildings and parking lots in the city, purchased 100 Westminster, a nearby building and parking lot for around $60 million in 2014.

Also known as 50 Kennedy Plaza, the building hosts high-profile tenants, including Providence Equity Partners and Hinckley Allen, but the loss of the corporate headquarters for Nortek to 500 Exchange St. left a vacancy that's been difficult to fill.

That year, Paolino also successfully challenged a $58-million assessment of 100 Westminster, getting the value reduced back down to $53.3 million.

But after the latest revaluation hiked the building's assessment to $59.6 million last year, city Tax Assessor David Quinn declined to offer another abatement and the issue moved to the Board of Review.

In a letter to the board in support of the 100 Westminster appeal, Paolino attorney John Mancini wrote that the city was valuing the office tower as if it were located in a hot real estate market such as New York or Boston, instead of Providence, where demand for office space has been soft for many years.

What's more, the letter argues property values in the neighborhood have been depressed by the empty mass of the Superman Building and the perception that the streets outside the offices have become "deplorable."

"The property is situated in an area that has garnered a lot of negative press for being a haven to crime, homeless and decay, namely Kennedy Plaza," Mancini wrote to the Board of Assessment. "In fact, the owner has attested to the fact that it has lost a major tenant (Nortek) because of the status of Kennedy Plaza. Kennedy Plaza has been termed as being deplorable."

Paolino was set to appear before the Board of Assessment Friday to add to his earlier public hearing testimony on 100 Westminster, but earlier in the week he told city officials he could not make it and asked for a postponement.

Board Chairman James Hackett said he had asked for information about new financing for the property and what the lender thought it was worth.

"I have serious doubts we will ever get that info," Hackett said before the board voted not to postpone and to keep the current assessment.

In a phone interview Friday, Paolino said he had answered the board's questions about the mortgage and would take them to court.

"I am going to beat them in court — they arbitrarily threw a number out there with no facts," Paolino said. "They reduced the assessment of the Superman building and they put it on top of my building."

— panderson@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7384

On Twitter: @PatrickAnderso_

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